TC Energy Corp. (TRP) has restarted part of the Keystone oil pipeline after the equivalent of 14,000 barrels of crude oil spilled in a rural area of Kansas.
The Calgary-based energy company was scheduled to restart oil flows on December 10 on a segment of the line that extends to Patoka, Illinois.
A separate section of the transcontinental pipeline that extends to a Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub is expected to restart on or around December 20.
The Keystone pipeline, which can carry more than 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day, connects oil fields in Canada to refiners in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
A prolonged disruption to the Keystone pipeline would have hurt crude stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, which is the largest U.S. storage hub. Oil inventories in America are at multi-year lows for this time of year.
The entire Keystone pipeline was shutdown on December 7 after a leak was discovered in Washington County, Kansas. The 14,000-barrel leak is one the largest onshore U.S. oil spills ever, and the biggest since 2010, according to industry data.
Clean-up of the oil spill, which took place on private property, is ongoing, said TC Energy. An investigation into the cause of the spill has been started, according to the company.
TC Energy’s stock is down 3% this year at $57.74 per share.
